Today I wanted to circle back to the cornerback position, considering new Pittsburgh Steelers CB Josiah Scott was running as first-team slot corner this offseason. Not overreacting to that report, but is worthy of learning more about the player and what it could mean for the 2024 season.
Pittsburgh reunited with CB Cameron Sutton this offseason, but his services were available due to a domestic violence felony reduced to misdemeanor. The NFL’s decision for discipline was eight games, opening up opportunities for men such as Scott and/or others.
Using Sports Info Solutions (SIS), this study will look at various run defense stats from the 2022 season, the only year of Scott’s four-year career with substantial snaps. I will also include current and former Steelers since 2022 for comparison.
Up first, run snaps and total snaps:
Though 2022 was Scott’s most snaps in a season to date, it was the least of focused players. His 380 total snaps ranked 102nd out of the 109 qualifying NFL corners (minimum 350).
Scott’s 126 run snaps tied for 103rd (seventh-least). Not much quantity compared to the league and players of interest, which is important to recall as we learn more.
NOTE: At the end of the article, there is a table that includes full rankings of the seven current and former Steelers for further comparison.
Next, let’s look at a very important aspect of being a quality run defender, tackling. The chart below looks at the players tackles per game and average tackle depth:
As expected, following the snaps view, we see Scott’s 2.0 tackles per game also landed low among his peers at 106th (fourth-least). We see great quality on those tackles though, landing on the high end of the average tackle depth ranks at third-best.
His impressive 0.3 mark emphasizes great contributions in this regard, primarily from the slot position. More specifically, Scott had 24 combined run tackles, and two tackles for loss. I honestly expected the latter to be higher considering his stellar average tackle depth, shedding light on his ability to limit runs to short gains in 2022. That would be huge if he sees the field for the Black and Gold in 2024.
This next view attempts to weigh positive and negative plays, using broken and missed tackle rates (negative plays) along with SIS positive play % which is the rate of run plays with the player on the field resulted in a positive expected points added (EPA), with lower percentages being the best:
Unfortunately, Scott was a below the mean player in both data points. A 14.3 broken/missed tackle rate tied for 64th, while his 45.2 positive percentage tied for a lower 80th rank. So, while good things happened when he made run tackles, he could definitely be labeled as ‘hit or miss’ as a run defender in 2022 with Philadelphia.
Here is a more total view of the players in the run game:
- Points Saved per Play: The total of a player’s EPA responsibility on run plays using the Total Points system that distributes credit among all players on the field for a given play, with positive numbers being good. Totals are scaled up to map to the average points scored or allowed on a team level, with the player’s snap count determining how much to adjust. For run defense, that includes accounting for defenders in the box, blown blocks forced, broken tackles, turnovers, and turnover returns.
- Points Above Average per Play: using the same Total Points system and putting a number to their value above an average level player:
Scott lands on the extreme lower left, tying for 104th in points saved per play, and a next-to-last 108th rank in points above average per play. Quality and quantity unfortunately lacked compared to his peers in 2022 overall, which was a similar takeaway to my 2022 coverage study on Scott.
The exception was a great average run tackle depth (third-best), which was encouraging to learn, but was otherwise below average in every other aspect of the run defense study.
To close, here’s a wrap up table of the data and conclusion (BTMT = broken/missed tackle rate):
So, we clearly see that Scott would have his work cut out for him in order to earn Pittsburgh’s slot corner role in 2024. He is a year removed from these substantial snaps, another factor working against his chances.
The Steelers are clearly doing their due diligence, as they should, wanting to find out what they have throughout the depth of their roster. They will continue doing so to fill the most glaring hole on the defense, at least until Sutton is eligible to return following the Week Nine bye.
Looking at Sutton’s ranks, he clearly had a better 2022 season in run defense overall, but not as strong as his contributions as a coverage player in his last stint with Pittsburgh. A lot has happened since, and while a return to that performance for Sutton is obviously the hope, it’s far from a guarantee.
We also see how former Steelers fared, that can also play in the slot, so that is of course an option. No hurry though, considering their familiarity with the Black and Gold, and wanting to see younger players (rookie Beanie Bishop for example) before perhaps signing a veteran like Peterson or Sullivan back.
I am fascinated to watch this transpire, and what ultimately happens at slot cornerback for Pittsburgh in 2024.
Thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in the comments.
